Brown Advisory Inc. has significantly reduced its holdings in Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE: PAA) by 38.5% during the first quarter of 2024. According to the latest 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the institutional investor now owns 33,337 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 20,900 shares during the reporting period. As of the conclusion of this quarter, Brown Advisory’s investment in Plains All American Pipeline was valued at approximately $667,000.
Several other institutional investors have also made adjustments to their positions in Plains All American Pipeline recently. Barclays PLC increased its stake by 110.4% during the fourth quarter, now holding 4,226,335 shares valued at $72.2 million, following an acquisition of 2,218,014 shares. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake by 4.6%, bringing its total to 27,827,930 shares, worth $475.3 million after acquiring 1,224,381 shares. Similarly, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFs HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings by 8.6%, now owning 15,297,594 shares valued at $261.3 million.
CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC and Natixis also expanded their stakes by 30.8% and 33.2%, respectively, during the same quarter. CIBC now holds 4,936,982 shares worth $92.5 million, while Natixis owns 2,707,900 shares valued at $46.3 million. Overall, hedge funds and institutional investors control 41.78% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings and Stock Performance
The stock has received varied ratings from multiple brokerages. On June 18, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its price target from $19.00 to $20.00 with a “neutral” rating. In contrast, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded the stock from “overweight” to “equal weight” in early May. Morgan Stanley maintained an “equal weight” rating with a price target of $23.00, while Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a “hold” to a “buy” rating on May 20. Scotiabank lowered its price target from $20.00 to $19.00, assigning a “sector outperform” rating.
Currently, one analyst has issued a sell rating, while six analysts have rated the stock as a hold, five as a buy, and one as a strong buy. Data from MarketBeat indicates the stock carries a consensus rating of “Hold” with a target price of $20.36.
As of the latest trading session, shares of Plains All American Pipeline opened at $18.73. The company’s 50-day moving average is $17.60, and the 200-day moving average is $18.52. Plains All American Pipeline has exhibited a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, with a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock’s performance over the past year has seen a low of $15.58 and a high of $21.00. The firm maintains a market capitalization of $13.17 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.66.
Recent Earnings and Dividend Declaration
Plains All American Pipeline released its quarterly earnings data on May 9, reporting earnings per share (EPS) of $0.39, which fell short of the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.06. The company recorded a return on equity of 11.69% and a net margin of 1.54%. Comparatively, the company earned $0.41 EPS in the same quarter last year, with quarterly revenue reflecting a 0.1% increase year-over-year. Analysts predict that Plains All American Pipeline will post an EPS of 1.52 for the current year.
The company has also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, set to be paid on August 14, 2024. Shareholders of record as of July 31, 2024, will receive this dividend, resulting in an annualized total of $1.52 and a yield of 8.12%. The current dividend payout ratio stands at an elevated 163.44%.
Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. operates through its subsidiaries, focusing on the transportation, terminaling, storage, and gathering of crude oil and natural gas liquids in the United States and Canada. The company operates primarily through two segments: Crude Oil and NGL, providing services such as gathering and transporting crude oil via pipelines and trucks.
